Volume IX 
OCTOBER, 1913 
NOS. 3 AND 4 
ANOMALIES OF PIGMENTATION AMONG NATIVES 
OF NYASALAND. 
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF ALBINISM*. 
By HUGH STANNUS STANNUS, M.D. Loud., etc. 
On page 148 of Part I of the Monograph on Albinism by Pearson, Nettleship 
and Usher from the Department of Applied Statistics, University College, London 
(Dulau & Co.), 1911, Professor Karl Pearson remarks, after dealing with some 
cases of albinism reported by myself and embodied in that work, "It is impossible 
to stndy Dr Stannus's data without being impressed with the various grades of 
albinism to be found in the dark races." It is particularly with the wish of drawing 
attention to this point that I now publish notes on cases of albinism which have 
come under my notice since the appearance of the above monograph. Pearson 
notices that there appears to be a greater variation in the albinotic characters 
among dark-skinned peoples, and seems inclined to attribute it to the fact that 
the various lesser grades of albinism are more readily distinguished among them than 
among fair races. With this I agree, and, as my own cases will show, intermediate 
forms between more or less well-marked types are found in numbers. This is 
a matter which I think has largely escaped the observation of those who have 
published records of cases. I am of opinion that for this reason consideration of 
the observations made by a single individual on a number of cases from a single 
country is more likely to give a correct impression of the subject than a mass of 
material drawn from many sources. 
The difficulty in defining albinism lies in the fact that short of a microscopical 
examination of all the tissues of the body it is impossible to say whether pigment 
is present or not. Dealing with the tissues more especially concerned in albinism, 
* This paper formed part of a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University 
of London. [The absence of Dr Stannus in Nyasalaud has thrown upon the Editor the responsibility 
of editing these pages for press. Names have not always been spelt uniformly in the type-written 
manuscript, and at various other points the Editor has badly needed Dr Stannus' help. The Editor 
has ventured to add a few footnotes in square brackets on topics, which he would much preferred to 
have previously discussed with the author. Ed.] 
Biometrika ix 43 
I. Classification. 
